


Hausgiving 2.0

by TDKeh16



Series: "Mon Petit Chou" Series [2]
Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Anal, Anal Sex, Boyfriend's shirt, Coming Out, Fluff and Humor, Hockey, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Sexting, Thanksgiving, zimbits - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2016-03-29
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6347677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TDKeh16/pseuds/TDKeh16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jack visits Samwell for Hausgiving during his first year in the NHL.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation from my first fic "Mon Petit Chou." It's not mandatory that you read that part first, but it does explain a few things, especially running jokes like Bitty's nickname and Jack's group texts.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bitty and Jack get frisky when they have the Haus to themselves.

Jack: If I leave right after lunch today I should be there around 2pm. Is there anything you want me to bring with me? 

Bitty double and triple-checked that Jack had sent him a private message instead of writing in the group text again before he replied.

Bitty: Just your perfect ass ;)  
Jack: I meant things to eat.  
Bitty: So did I.  
Jack: For Haus thanksgiving tomorrow.  
Bitty: ...  
Jack: What?  
Bitty: How can you be so good at sex and so awful at sexting?  
Bitty: Jack?  
Jack: I'm trying to figure out if that's an insult or not.  
Jack: So do you need me to bring anything for thanksgiving?  
Bitty: No we're good. Thanks baby. See you this afternoon. I'll leave the spare Haus key under the mat so let yourself in.  
Jack: Thanks. See you soon, mon petit chou.

******

Jack caught himself nearly turning into the wrong bedroom. Old habits die hard, but the Sharks poster on the door to his former room helped remind him that he no longer lived there. He turned instead to the room across the hall and set his bag down next to Bitty's bed. Maybe Chowder wouldn't mind showing him his room later. What was he thinking? It was _Chowder_ , of course he wouldn't mind. Jack had a lot of memories in that old bedroom, though his most precious one occurred _after_ the three years he had lived there.

He stretched out on his back on Bitty's bed and closed his eyes. He inhaled deeply, taking in the smell of Bitty that surrounded him. His bedroom always smelled vaguely of cinnamon, likely a result of all the baking he did, and his bed was not exception. Jack would not have expected to to mix well with the scent of Bitty's shampoo on his pillow or his cologne, but somehow it did. He reached down and unzipped his jeans, shifting his hips so that they inched down just enough that he could reach in comfortably.

Jack lost himself in the moment as he stroked, until the faint click of a door closing got his attention. His eyes shot open and he turned his head to find Bitty standing at his bedroom door. "I-!"

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Is this what you do when I'm not around, Mr. Zimmermann?" Bitty turned the lock on his door and approached the bed as he started unbuttoning his shirt.

"Only when I think of you," Jack grabbed his wrist and pulled him down onto the bed. "I missed you."

"I missed you too Jack," Bitty kissed up Jack's neck to his mouth.

"I thought you had a class this afternoon."

"Skipped it. I wanted to surprise you be being home when you arrived. I thought you weren't getting here until 2 o'clock."

"I skipped lunch with the team and drove down early, I wanted to surprise you by being here already when you got home..." Jack groaned as Bitty rubbed his thigh between Jack's legs. "Fuck..." He whispered.

"I was _very_  surprised. Pleasantly surpr-ah!" Bitty yelped when Jack suddenly flipped their positions, pinning him down on his back. He pulled Jack's head close for a deep kiss while the older man's fingers quickly set to undoing the remaining buttons on Bitty's shirt and pants. "Yours too."

Jack sat back, but hesitated as he grabbed the hem of his own shirt. "Don't freak out, I'm fine. I promise," he pulled his shirt over his head to reveal a large bruise on the right side of his ribs. 

"Is it from that bad hit you took last game? It took you a few seconds to get up I was so worried," Bitty's hand traced the bruise lightly. "Are you sure you're fine? Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It knocked the wind out of me a little, that's all. There's no internal damage, no broken ribs or anything," Bitty's hands drifted over to rub his chest. He leaned back down and kissed him, his tongue slipping past Bitty's parted lips.

"Mm..." Bitty moaned into the kissed and let out a small gasp when Jack broke away to kiss his neck, chest, and abdomen. "Ah!" He gasped again as Jack tugged his pants and underwear off his hips and chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?" Jack grinned as he shed his own pants as well.

"Nothing, I'm just so happy you're here."

Jack pounced on him and they began to grind their hips together as they continued to kiss. Jack wrapped one arm around the back of Bitty's neck as a pseudo pillow and pressed his body down gently, wanting as much of their skin to touch as he could possibly get. "Do you have-?"

"Bottom drawer of my nightstand," Bitty answered before Jack could even finish asking his question. While his boyfriend reached over to grab the condoms and lube, Bitty quickly removed his already unbuttoned shirt so that all he was left wearing were his socks. He kissed down Jack's back and slipped his hands into his underwear. "Off with these too," he hooked his thumbs on the elastic waistband and tugged at them.

"Yes sir," Jack laughed, raising his hips slightly so that Bitty could remove them more easily. He turned onto his side and kicked his foot until his underwear that had hooked on his ankle fell to the floor. He moaned when Bitty's mouth closed around him and he wasted no time reciprocating the gesture.

"Jack..." Bitty squirmed with pleasure when one lubed finger then another slipped inside while Jack's head continued bobbing deftly between his legs.

"Bits, can you...?" Jack slid the lube towards Bitty with his free hand.

"Yeah," Bitty said between pants. He loved the way Jack moaned when he did the same. "Feel good?"

"Yeah..." he moaned into Bitty's thigh.

Bitty suddenly pulled away and switched positions so that he was straddling Jack's hips and looking down at him. "I'm ready now. You?"

Jack's hand groped blindly on the bed for the box of condoms his size, unable to tear his eyes away from Bitty. "Uh-huh."

Bitty laughed and grabbed the box, removing a condom and putting it on Jack.  He leaned down and they kissed again.

Jack wrapped his arms around him tightly and sat up, holding Bitty in his lap as they continued to make out. He slid one hand under Bitty and worked his opening with a little more lube to ensure he would be comfortable.

The younger man moaned. "Enough, already!" Bitty bucked his hips impatiently and tightened the grip his legs had around Jack's waist. "Fuck me now..." He whispered into his boyfriend's ear and gave it a small nip.

Jack did not need any more convincing. He rocked forward and laid Bitty back on the bed. He slid in easily and Bitty let out a moan. "You okay?"

"I'm good. It's good. It's so good," he added for extra emphasis, knowing it would drive Jack crazy. "Start moving."

"Okay," Jack did as he was told. He started slowly and gently, but gradually began thrusting faster and harder, guided by Bitty's encouraging moans. "Fuck... Eric, you're so..."

The only time Jack ever called him by his first name was when they made love and it drove Bitty wild. He gripped Jack by the back of his neck and pulled him in for another passionate kiss. "More," he gasped. "Oh my god..." Bitty dug his fingers into his boyfriend's back.

"Are you close?"

"Yes!" He gasped once more when Jack shifted their positions slightly, hooking one of Bitty's legs over his shoulder. "Ah!"

"You okay still?"

Bitty let out a panted laugh. "Trust me. If you were doing something wrong, you'd hear about it, Mr. Zimm-ahh!" He moaned when Jack purposely thrusted deeper than he had been. 

"Chirping me even here, eh Bittle?" He grinned.

"You don't play fair..." Bitty nipped at his lip. Jack reached down and stroked him in time with his thrusts. "Wait, I'm gonna..."

"It's okay, I'm almost there too," Jack's pace quickened and he ran his free hand through Bitty's blond hair. " _Je t'aime_. I love you, Eric. I love-"

"Jack!" Bitty interrupted him with a kiss as he came in Jack's hand and onto his own stomach. He buried his head in the crook of the older man's neck as Jack's movements intensified. He was close, Bitty could tell. Bitty nipped as his neck as he felt him coming inside. "I love you," he whispered against Jack's lips between kisses.

Jack pulled out slowly and removed the condom. He tossed it in the trash and grabbed a few tissues to wipe Bitty's stomach. He collapsed lazily onto the bed next to his boyfriend, pulling him close and entwining their legs. "Was it good?"

"Perfect. _Always_ ," Bitty's hands roamed Jack's body while the both tried to catch their breath. He hooked a socked foot around the back of Jack's leg and rolled them so that he was on top of the larger man. He let out an exhausted sigh and dropped his forehead against Jack's chest. "I know I have to shower but I don't want to leave yet."

"Then stay," Jack rubbed his hand up and down Bitty's thigh. "When is everyone done class today?"

"Ransom, Holster and Lardo are all done at 2:30 today. Chowder has class until four o'clock. Then Lardo usually has an evening class on Wednesdays so she leaves again from five to eight, but she doesn't have to go tonight because we have a game."

Jack froze, his hand still on Bitty's leg. "I forgot about your game tonight."

"That's the whole reason you came here a day early, what do you mean you forgot?" Bitty chuckled.

"I came here to see _you_ , the Samwell game is just a perk."

"Is that so?"

"Of course," Jack answered seriously. He slid both hands now to massage Bitty from his lower back, butt, hips, and back to his thighs. "Are you sore? We should have switched positions this time, or at _least_ waited until after your game..."

"Don't be silly. Why do you think I was fixin' to surprise you here when you arrived?"

"Oh?"

"I didn't expect to find you already _preparing_ yourself when I got home," Bitty grinned.  
   
"It's not like I was planning on that or anything, but when I got here..." Bitty's big brown eyes watched him expectantly. "Everything smelled like you."

"Jeez..." Bitty dug his forehead against Jack's chest as they both blushed from the embarrassing line his boyfriend had just spouted. "Okay, shower time. Cold shower time," He added with a laugh and stood up, dragging Jack to his feet as well.

"You want me to join you?" Jack smirked.

"Just a _regular_ shower. Everyone is going to be home soon. We can continue this tonight."

******

"Bitty, let me in!!!" Holster's voice boomed from the other side of the bathroom door, startling the two men inside.

"I'm taking a shower, you can't come in here!" Bitty yelled back, wondering if the panic he was feeling could be heard in his voice.

"I gotta take a piss!"

"Use Lardo's bathroom!"

" _She's_ showering in there and that's a hell of a lot more inappropriate. I'm coming in!" Holster burst into their shared bathroom.

Jack bent down just in time to hide the top of his head from the other side of the shower door.

"Fucks sake, Bits. It's not like I'm gonna peek or anything," Holster complained as he stood at the toilet right next to the shower. "What time is Jack coming?"

"Um... _soon_ ," Bitty replied with a grin towards his hard boyfriend. Jack nodded impatiently as Bitty's hand began to move again. Their "regular" shower had not stayed that way for long.

"Swawesome. Been too long since I've that asshole. Not since the home-opener last month, I think? That was almost two months ago now, huh? Before that, when was the last time? August?"

"Something like that..." Bitty replied. "Almost done?"

Jack's legs were starting to shake in his bent position. Bitty was not sure if his own handiwork was helping or hurting the situation. Holster flushed the toilet and Bitty yelped at the sudden rush of hot water. He clapped his free hand over Jack's mouth to stop him from from making any noise.

"Shit! Sorry Bits," the water temperature wavered again as Holster washed his hands.

"Just get out already!"

Jack came and his foot slipped, causing an audible squeak against the floor of the tub and causing them both to lose balance and knock shoulders against the wall with a thud.

"You okay? Did you fall?"

"I'm fine, don't you dare come check on me! So help me god, Holster..."

"Got it, I'm done invading your privacy for today. Thanks," Holster laughed as he closed the bathroom door behind him.

"I somehow doubt that," Jack muttered, causing Bitty to laugh out.

"I thought we'd be done before they all got home..."

"Who's fault is that? This was supposed to be a _regular_ shower."

"I couldn't help it, not after the last time... Ugh. This was way better in your shower."

"It was still pretty good here," Jack pulled him in for a kiss. "... Do you think Holster noticed my clothes hanging with yours on the door?"

"Oh god."

******

"Damn, Bitty. How long were you showering for? The hot water's almost run out..." Lardo walked into his room as she towel dried her hair. A shiver ran down her back, her lukewarm shower had not done the trick to warm her from post-class walk across campus. His room was empty, but the bathroom door was still closed. "Bits! Hurry up! I know you're excited about Jack coming for the game tonight but _Jesus!_ "

"Go downstairs! I'll be right out!"

Bitty went downstairs first to welcome his housemates home while Jack dried his hair so nobody would realize where he had just been.

"Where's Jack?" Ransom asked the petit blond.

Holster looked up from his laptop. "I thought he wasn't here yet."

"Well, that's his car outside. Are you blind? How did you not notice it?"

"Um... Jack's napping in my room. I'm sure he'll be down soon," Bitty answered Ransom's original question.

"Huh," Lardo huffed curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing, just that I was in your room and nobody was there."

Bitty paled. "What? When?"

"Not 5 minutes ago. While you were finishing up your shower," she grinned.

"...Oh."

"Bits..." Ransom shook his head in mock disapproval and the two seniors laughed.

The laughter prompted Holster to look up from his homework again and focus on the pieces of conversation he had just overheard. "Wait. _What?_ "

Bitty turned red. "Nothing!"

"Dude, weren't you in there like ten minutes ago? You didn't notice the 6'1" NHL player standing in the shower a foot away?" Lardo laughed.

"Bro... I'm getting legit worried about your eyes now. Maybe you should wear your glasses more," Ransom was half-joking but half-serious.

"Uh, well..." Bitty could not explain how Holster missed Jack's sports car outside, but he at least had an explanation for the bathroom. "Jack hid sort of. He ducked down so you couldn't see him..."

"Why didn't you just tell me you were both in there? I could've pissed outside or something!" Holster was embarrassed now too. "No wonder you were so weird about me being in there..."

"Y'all better be quiet about this when Jack gets down here," Bitty's threats were never taken very seriously.

As if on cue, a fully dried Jack made his way down the stairs. "Jack!" Lardo flew at him for a hug.

Ransom and Holster also stood to greet him, nearly crushing tiny Lardo in the group hug. "How was your nap?"

"Oh, um. Good," Jack answered awkwardly.

"You look, uh, _relaxed_..." With that, the trio of seniors broke into cackling laughter.

"Um..." He looked over expectantly at his boyfriend.

"So," Bitty began with a sigh. "They kind of figured out you weren't napping."

"Oh," Jack walked to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Sorry about that, Holster."

"Check out Jack admitting to it! Fucking _shameless!_ " 

"No fair, you can't just stand there drinking a beer when you know the rest of us have to get ready for our game," Ransom whined.

"Hah, suckers!" Lardo hopped over the back of the couch and went to the fridge to grab her own. "I'll join you, Jack."

"Atta girl."

Bitty leaned against the wall by the kitchen entrance, watching his friends and Jack chirp each other and laugh. For a moment, he got lost in the nostalgia of it all, though nothing was quite the same without Shitty. He smiled. "Y'all have a lot of catching up to do. I'm going to get some things ready for dinner so there's less to worry about after the game."

He was only in the kitchen for a minute before Jack came up behind him. "Can I help with something?"

"Don't you worry about me. Go hang out with everyone, they've missed you too, you know?"

"I have a proposition," Jack snaked one arm around Bitty's waist and pulled him away from the fridge where he had been gathering ingredients. "How about if you win the game tonight, everyone goes out for dinner. My treat," he half dragged Bitty out of the kitchen and back into the living room and explained his plan to the others.

"What do you mean by everyone?"

"The whole team."

"The _whole_  team? Are you sure?"

"I think I'm good for it. I doubt treating for one team meal will bankrupt me. Maybe I'll make it a two-drink limit," Jack laughed. He whispered in Bitty's ear while their friends were distracted. "Except you. You can order whatever you want."

"Mr. Zimmermann, are you trying to get me drunk?"

"Of course not. You want to be with _me_ , I think it's pretty clear that your judgement is already impaired."

Bitty frowned. "You know I hate it when you say things like that."

"Sorry," Jack leaned in and kissed him, which got their friends' attention.

" _What?_ " Bitty asked impatiently while blushing upon noticing their stares.

"I'm still kinda wrapping my head around it," Ransom admitted.

"Yeah, me too. Don't mind me," Holster waved a hand dismissively.

"I never thought I would see Jack Zimmermann being affectionate. Like, don't get me wrong -- it's nice, and I'm happy for you guys and everything -- but I think I can probably count on one hand the number of times I've seen you willingly touch anybody that wasn't during a celly."

"That's true, bro." Lardo nodded.

"Well, except for Shitty... Never mind, I think he usually forced those," Holster concluded with a shake of his head.

"Even I have to make the first move for any hugs," Lardo added.

"Save the chirps for the ice, eh?" Jack laughed and took a sip of beer.

Bitty turn his head to look up at Jack as he took another sip. It was unusual for him to drink in general, but especially so during the daytime. His hand slinked around Bitty's back and gave him a small squeeze to his waist. "Jack..." He whispered.

"Hm?" Jack looked down at him.

"You don't have to be nervous... This is Samwell, for crying out loud," he smiled and pressed his body into Jack's side. "We've all got your back."

The older man let out a sigh accompanied with a small smile. Had Bitty always been able to see through him so easily? "You're right."

******


	2. Chapter 2

The team won their game and Jack, true to his word, treated all the team members who did not have to catch flights home for the holiday for dinner at local restaurant.

About halfway through the dinner, Holster raised his glass to thank Jack and lead a toast. "I just wanted to say a big fucking thanks to Samwell's own Jack Zimmermann for treating us starving students to this victory meal. A king among bros," the group of about 15 people including their coaches joined him in the toast. "To Jack!"

"What would you have done if we lost?" Ransom asked.

"I would have treated everyone except you two, the captains who failed to motivate their team," Jack grinned and the table burst into laughter.

"Such a fucking hard-ass!" Ransom reached over and gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. "Still, we couldn't have asked for a better role model."

"Come on," Jack laughed off the compliment and glanced up at the TV. He remembered watching that same TV less than two years earlier, when the analysts had doubted his chances of ever having a shot at the NHL again. He had been devastated that day, who would have guessed he would be where he was today? "Uh, actually..." He stood and raised his glass of water to get the tables' attention. "I'd like to say something too."

The chatter fell silent except for an excited, "Yay, Jack!!!!" from Chowder.

"I owe a lot to this school, and this team. I, uh... Sorry, I don't have anything specific planned here so I'm sort of winging it," Jack took a deep breath. "When I started at this school four and a half years ago, I had a lot of people, mostly strangers, saying I would never succeed. That I had blown my chance at the NHL and ruined everything I had worked so hard for in my life up to that point. But... I can honestly say that coming here was the best decision I have ever made. It was a life-saver. Samwell, and the people I met here, made me a better person. This place means a lot to me, so I hope y'all won't mind if I stop by for a visit every now and then. I know most of you probably aren't planning on pursuing hockey beyond graduation and that's fine, but I hope this team comes to mean as much to you as it has for me. Um, to Samwell." 

"To Samwell!"

"You're welcome to visit anytime, Jack," Coach Murray smiled.

"Thanks," Jack took his seat again and placed a seemingly platonic arm around Bitty's shoulder to comfort him as he fought back a few tears. "You okay, Bittle?"

Bitty wiped self-consciously at his eyes with the back of his hand, but he was not actually crying. "Uh-huh," he managed to squeak out while gathering his composure. 

"Nice speech dude," Lardo smiled.

"Shitty's gonna be so disappointed when he finds out he missed a Zimmermann speech..." Holster mused.

"Not to worry. I took a video. Sending it to him right now," Lardo answered while looking at her phone.

"Hey Jack, why are you just drinking water? You had a beer at the Haus this afternoon," Ransom asked while pointing to Jack's glass with his fork. "What gives?"

"Oh, well, I'm in public right now, so..." Jack trailed off and looked around the busy restaurant. "All it really takes is one picture to cause a scandal, especially with my history, so I try to be careful."

On that note, Bitty gave his shoulder a small shrug to remind his boyfriend to move his arm. Jack dropped his arm back to his side, discreetly resting his hand on Bitty's leg under the table. Bitty instead brought his own hand down out of sight to link their fingers together. He looked aside to Jack and smiled.

Holster looked around at the rest of their group sitting at the table. "So... Are we just pretending that nobody noticed that?"

"What?" Bitty looked at him quizzically, and a little apprehensive. Underneath the table, he let go of Jack's hand. They probably should not have done something so risky in public.

"Um, Jack dropping a casual fucking 'y'all' in his speech just now?" Holster looked around again. "There's no way it was just me who noticed that, right?"

"I noticed it too, but I wasn't going to point it out," Lardo admitted.

"Haha! Bits is rubbing off on you!" Ransom nudged their former captain again.

" _Something_  like that," Holster smirked as he finished his beer. The trio of seniors broke into cackling laughter again.

"We have to go!!!" Chowder suddenly exclaimed, startling the table. "The game starts in 20 minutes!!"

"Which game?"

"The Sharks are playing the Aces tonight! Oh!!! Jack are you going to watch it too???"

"Oh, uh, yeah. I guess..." He shrugged his shoulders.

******

The living room was packed with the remnants of the Samwell men's hockey team, all crowded around the television to watch the Sharks play the Aces.

Bitty excused himself to the kitchen after the fifth person asked Jack about Kent Parson. "Have you seen him since your season started?" Dex asked.

"No. He gave me a call after my first game, but that was it. We're in different conferences, so it's not like our teams will play each other much."

"Oh!!!! What if you both made it to the playoffs??? That would be so exciting if you could play against him for the Stanley Cup!!!!"

Jack cringed at the thought, but replied with a smile. "We'll see. Maybe the Falconers will go up against the Sharks for the cup this year. Who would you root for then, Chowder?"

"Huh??!!!!"

"Not fair Jack. You'll short-circuit the poor kid's brain asking him questions like that," Ransom laughed.

Jack stood up from the couch and ruffled Chowder's hat as he walked past. "I mean, I _did_ give you my dibs, but..." He chuckled.

Bitty smiled when Jack came into the kitchen. "How's the game going?"

A mix of yells and cheers erupted from the living room and Holster's voice boomed over the commotion. "Parse just scored again! He's on _fire_ tonight! Get back here Jack, you missed it!"

Jack sighed and leaned against the counter next to Bitty who was checking on whatever he was baking in the oven. Probably pie. He thought to himself. "The game is... It's fine. Sorry, I know all the questions about Parse put you in an awkward position..."

"It's worse for you, I'm sure," Jack leaned over and gave Bitty a kiss. "Jack! Someone might see!"

"I know," he nestled his face in Bitty's hair, kissing the top of his head. Jack wrapped his warm arms around him and Bitty felt heat on his scalp as he sighed again. "We play the Aces next month in Vegas."

"Oh," Bitty said quietly against his chest.

"He's already called me a couple times about seeing me while I'm in town, but I don't really know what I should do."

"Well," Bitty gulped. "I think, um... I think you should do what you think is best. If you want to see him, then you should. If you think he's going to upset you again, then maybe it would be better to avoid him," it was Bitty's turn to sigh. What he said sounded like such a cop-out, but he felt like he was both too close and too unaware of the situation at the same time. Jack's history with Kent Parson was like navigating a mine field.

"What do you _really_ want to say?"

Bitty pressed a hand against Jack's chest and forced him to take a step back in case one of the tadpoles or other frogs besides Chowder came in. He took a deep breath and then spilled everything. "The thought of you seeing him again worries me. I know it's inevitable that your paths will cross and it's not that I don't trust _you_... But I don't trust _him_. Last time he said such awful things and you were so upset and I don't want him to hurt you like that again. I know there's a lot to your history with him that I don't know about and he's still your friend in some way but... I shouldn't be saying any of this, sorry. It's none of my business."

"I love you, of course it's your business."

"It's _probably_  good if you two could sit down and have a nice long talk, but I'm afraid he won't fight fair. I hate the idea of you hurting and I have no way of helping you from across the country. I love you too, so I hate it when you're sad," Bitty rubbed his hand up and down Jack's chest along his breastbone, which he had learned helped calm him when he was having trouble with his anxiety.

Jack smiled and caressed his boyfriend's face. "Bitt-!"

Someone rushed into the kitchen and the two men shot apart. "Ooh!!! What are you making???? You guys are missing the game!!!" It was Chowder. "Oops!! Oh no! Did I interrupt something???"

"Shhh. It's fine, Chowder. You aren't interrupting anything," Bitty did his best to settle him down. "Jack's going back in now, and I'll be there in a minute when this pie is ready," he gave Jack's back a little push. "Um, Chowder? You haven't _told_  anybody, right?"

"No, of course not!!! You said not to!!"

Jack grinned and Bitty sighed happily. "You're such a good boy, Chowder. I knew we could count on you."

"Bitty!!!!!" 

"Let's go," Jack put a hand on Chowder's shoulder to guide him out of the room and the boy nearly passed out from excitement. "See you in there, Bittle."

"Right," Bitty turned around to check the oven and another roar rose from the living room, causing him to jump and slam the oven door.

"Parse got a hatty! I don't think your Sharks are gonna bounce back from this one, Chowder!" 

"What's that now, his _second_  one this year? Jack, you must know."

There was a pause, then Bitty heard Jack's reply from the other room. "...Yeah."

******

"Are you sure you're okay with all the pictures the boys took today? I told them they couldn't post any online without me checking them first, but still."

"Eric Richard Bittle objecting to selfies? I never thought I would see the day," Jack stretched out on Bitty's bed.

"Ha-ha Mr. Zimmermann," Bitty rolled his eyes sarcastically. He started to climb into bed but stopped suddenly. "Oh! I have something I want to show you. It's a surprise so close your eyes. No peeking!"

"Oh?" Jack rested his forearm across his eyes to block his view. He could hear the sound of Bitty's closet opening, followed by some rustling.

"Okay, open them."

Jack uncovered his eyes to find Bitty standing before him in his underwear and a Falconer's jersey with "Zimmermann" written across the back. He grinned. "When did you get that?"

"I ordered it online. It just arrived on Monday."

"I could have given you one."

"But then it wouldn't be a _surprise_ ," Bitty crawled into the bed beside him. "What do you think?"

"I love it," Jack pulled him in for a kiss and slid his leg between Bitty's thighs.

"I figured I could wear it to the next game I go see," he let out a small moan. "Do you like that idea?"

"Of course," his hands roamed freely along Bitty's body. "Maybe I should get a Samwell one."

"Don't you still have some of those?"

"Not one that says 'Bittle' on it..."

"Oh my god," Bitty laughed. "I thought you were trying to avoid any unnecessary rumours."

"What about you wearing my jersey? Won't that create rumours?"

"No, because as far as anyone is concerned, I'm a former teammate showing support for my friend who made it to the NHL. If you wore my jersey somewhere everyone would wonder why me out of all the team."

"I'll only wear it in private, then. Like this," he tugged at the hem of the Falconers jersey around Bitty's waist.

"You want me to take this off?" Bitty arched an eyebrow. He knew how Jack loved it when he wore his clothing, and while this jersey did not belong to him, it did have his name on it.

"Not yet," Jack twisted their bodies so that the younger man was straddled on top of him. Bitty leaned back and began to slowly grind his hips down against his. Jack let out a low moan and grabbed the cell phone near him, snapping a picture of the man above him.

"I hope this isn't for some secret photography class you're taking, mister..." Bitty ran his hands along Jack's chest and abs. "You know, I'm gonna need to approve any photos before you post them to social media."

"For personal use only," he lifted Bitty's shirt a little to expose part of his waist and took another picture. 

"Oh really?"

"Mm-hm... Maybe we should take a selfie together?"

" _The_  Jack Zimmermann wants to take a selfie with me? I'm so honoured," Bitty bent down and nipped at Jack's bottom lip as they kissed.

"Are you going to text that to your blog?"

"You're hopeless..."

******

The next morning, Bitty rolled over to silence his alarm. He groped blindly for his phone on his nightstand, but it was not where he had left it. The alarm grew loud and he was forced to sit up and examine his surroundings through his bleary eyes. He found his phone. It was in Jack's hand. "Jeez..."

Bitty took his phone back from the hand of his sleeping boyfriend and hit the snooze button for the alarm. The first thing he found on the screen is a picture of him sleeping naked against Jack's chest with moonlight pouring in through the window. He liked the photo, but why was it on _his_ phone?

Oh no. He scrolled back through the previous images and blushed. There was  _no way_  he could keep pictures of himself like that on his phone. "Jack!" Bitty smacked his chest impatiently to wake him. "You used my phone last night by mistake! We don't even have the same model, how did you confuse them??"

Jack stirred, looking up at him with a content smile and drowsy eyes. "I didn't."

"What do you mean? Look right here!" Bitty turned his phone to show Jack one of the less risqué pictures they had taken last night. 

"Now you can send me some of those sex-texts you like so much when I'm lonely in Providence," Jack reached up and brushed Bitty's blond hair back with his fingers.

"You know sexts don't have to be pictures of _actually_ having sex," Bitty grinned.

"I like it better this way."

He settled back into bed, curling his back against Jack's chest like a little spoon. "If I send you these, what will I get in return?"

"I'll send you some too."

"But-!"

"Are you doubting my photography skills, Bittle?" Jack placed a sweet kiss behind Bitty's ear, causing him to let out a small chuckle.

"I'm not questioning your _photography_  skills as much as I'm questioning your ability to send them to _me_  and not the group text..." Bitty paled at the thought of their friends accidentally receiving a _private_ photo of Jack Zimmermann.

"I've been better with that lately."

"You did it three days ago!" Bitty laughed and rolled over to face him. "Thank goodness it was an innocent question!"

"You'll have to send me the first picture, then."

Bitty sighed and cupped Jack's face with both hands, drawing him in for a kiss. "What am I going to do with you?" He smiled. The alarm on his phone went off again and he huffed, giving him another kiss before rolling back over to turn off his alarm for good. "Time for me to get up. Hausgiving dinner isn't going to make itself."

"It's still morning," Jack clung to his back and pressed his forehead between Bitty's shoulder blades. "Stay for a little longer."

He pulled away and sat up with a stretch. Bitty loved it when Jack acted needy like this, but he had too much work to do. "Sorry baby," he began as he walked to his closet to pick his outfit for the day. "It's going to take me most of the day to get ready for dinner tonight," Bitty heard the click of a picture being taken and looked down at his phone in his hand. He turned around partially in time for another click of a camera flash. "What on earth-?"

Jack chuckled and reviewed the photos he had taken from behind of his small but well-toned boyfriend standing naked in front of his closet. "These are just for my phone."

Bitty smiled and shook his head as he pulled on a long sleeved shirt. "Remind me to show you how to hide pictures in a private photo album on your phone," he made a mental note to do the same with the ones Jack had taken with his phone the night before as he walked to his dresser and pulled on some underwear and a pair of pants. 

Jack crawled out of bed as well and dressed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "I'm going to go for a morning run. I was hoping we could go to Faber for a bit this afternoon. I only got the extra day off because I promised I'd put in a hard practice while I was here," he draped his arms around Bitty's shoulders from behind.

"I'm sure the team would love to practice with you."

"I meant just me and you..."

"I'm already very impressed with you, Mr. Zimmermann. You don't have to show off for _me_ ," Bitty laughed.

"It's not that," Jack bent his head and smiled into Bitty's hair. "You're still the fastest skater I know, Bits. I want to do some suicide drills with you. You make me a better player."

Bitty let out an embarrassed chuckle. "Oh lord, if you put it that way... I can't promise anything just yet, but we'll see how much I can get done by noon. Okay?"

"Sounds good. I'll help out when I get back from my run, _mon petit chou_ ," He kissed Bitty's temple on his way to the bedroom door. " _Je t'aime_."

"I love you too. Now get outta my hair!" Bitty smacked him playfully on his butt and Jack laughed as he headed down the stairs.

******

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple quick notes about some of the hockey lingo used in this chapter for those who don't know:  
> "Hatty" = "Hat Trick" = when a player scores three goals in one game. (Typically fans celebrate by throwing their hats onto the ice after this happens.)  
> "Suicide drills/sprints" = involves skating back and forth on the ice, farther each time. It's probably easier to Google a video to see for yourself. (Bitty actually likes these, because he can out-skate his teammates lol)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hausgiving Day has arrived! And so has Shitty!

"I can't feel my legs..." Bitty wobbled as he hit a patch of ice on his walk back from Faber. Jack steadied him by his shoulders and they both laughed. "I've been training so hard this year, but the NHL is on a whole different level, isn't it?"

"Sorry, I shouldn't have challenged you to keep up with me," Jack's hands were still on Bitty's shoulders. "You still beat me at sprints, though. You're way too fast for me."

"You're just saying that."

"If only some of the guys on my team could see your speed," one of Jack's hands slid up to Bitty's neck and he brushed his thumb along his boyfriend's jaw. "Bet they wouldn't chirp you on your size so much then."

"You mean like that beast who likes to remind me how he's 6'5" and that's the reverse of my height?"

Jack chuckled and continued to stroke his thumb against Bitty's jaw, bringing up his other hand to do the same. "Exactly. You'd really put him in his place."

"You know, I've _tried_ telling him that I'm technically _5'6 **.5"**_ but he just doesn't listen. It's not my fault that NHL players are so ridiculously huge nowadays. Fleury was only 5'6" I mean, jeez..." Bitty huffed. "And between you and me, I think I grew a little since the summer."

"I think you're right. You might even be _5'7"_ now..."

"Always chirping me eh, Mr. Zimmermann?" Bitty grinned. Jack moved in to kiss him but the shorter man took a step back. "What if someone sees?"

"Nobody is around," Jack smiled and successfully pulled him back in for a kiss. "You lips are cold."

"Yeah, 'cuz it's freezing out here!" Bitty allowed his teeth to chatter to illustrate his point. "Let's hurry back to the Haus."

"It's only like, -10 degrees Celsius out," Jack laughed.

"Fahrenheit, mister! How long have you lived in this country now?"

" _I'm_  not the strange one here. Did you know it's only the US, Liberia, and Burma that _don't_ use the metric system?"

"Of course _you_  would know that..." Bitty replied as they started walking again.

"It's true."

"So conformity is your answer?" 

"Where's Ransom? He'd have my back on this," Jack insisted. "Why don't you see the irony of the United States clinging to the _imperial_  system?"

"Ransom's probably back at the Haus. I don't care if I have to listen to you two chirp me all afternoon, as long as we can hurry to somewhere warm!" Bitty shuffled his feet a little faster.

Jack easily met his pace with his longer stride and they made it back to the Haus in record time. The senior Hausmates were crowded onto the couch together, watching a recording of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade because they had all slept too late to watch it live. Bitty immediately headed for the kitchen hoping to warm up quicker while using the oven and stove. Jack followed closely behind him, wrapping his arms around Bitty and kissing the back of his neck. "Want me to help warm you up?"

"You've put me behind schedule enough for today," Bitty laughed.

"What else can I do to help you out? Want me to run to Murder Stop & Shop to grab a pumpkin pie or something?" He grinned into Bitty's hair.

"Oh don't you even **_dare!_** " Bitty spun around with a smile and was caught up in another kiss. 

"Smelly Stop & Shop, then?"

"You're impossible!" He laughed, stepping up onto his tip-toes and wrapping his arms around Jack's neck as they kissed again.

"Hey, I-! Whoa! Holy shit!" Dex walked into the kitchen and immediately stepped back out. "Nevermind! I'll come back later!" He rushed out of the Haus without any explanation to Lardo, Ransom, and Holster. 

"Oh no..." Bitty reached for his phone and immediately texted the red-haired boy.

Bitty: Dex!  
Dex: I didn't see anything.  
Dex: It's fine.  
Dex: I was just coming to feed Chowder's fish.  
Dex: I can do it later.  
Bitty: Come back, please. Let's talk about this.  
Dex: I'll see you at dinner tonight...  
Bitty: Please don't tell anybody.  
Dex: I won't.  
Dex: ...  
Dex: I promise.

Bitty put his phone back down on the table with a heavy sigh. He would have been much more careful if he had realized someone other than his roommates were in the Haus. "He promised not to say anything, but he's not coming back until dinner time..."

Jack took a deep breath. "It's probably okay, right?"

"...Probably," but the worried look on Bitty's face was not very convincing. "I'll talk to him when he comes for dinner. I don't think he would tell anybody but, well..."

"What is it?"

"It's just... When he asked Rans and I if the '1 in 4 maybe more' saying was true he was so awkward. And he's always admired you so... Maybe seeing you kiss a man upset him. I hope we didn't make him uncomfortable."

"Well, as long as he doesn't tell the media right now, then it's fine," Jack grabbed his hand.

"It's not _fine_ , Jack. How could you say that? If he's-!"

Jack interrupted him with a kiss. "He was going to find out _eventually_. Everyone will."

"Everyone?"

"Yeah,  _everyone_. You didn't think I would play my whole career in the closet, did you?"

"Well, not entirely. I figured we'd tell our friends and families and your teammates _eventually_ , but I didn't want to cause any trouble for you..."

"I'm not ashamed of you, Bits. The complete opposite," he pulled Bitty in for a tight hug. "I just don't want to be that guy who comes out his rookie year and steals all the attention away from his team. The press is already so focussed on me as 'Bad Bob's son' and 'the addict who almost killed himself' I didn't want to make it _all_ about me," Jack spoke softly against Bitty's ear. "I'll prove myself, and when this dust settles, I'll tell everyone about you. I'll tell the whole world that I love you and I won't care what Dex or anyone else thinks about that."

"Jack!" Bitty went up on his tip-toes again and kissed him eagerly. Jack spun them around and lifted Bitty off the ground, sitting him on the counter. "Jack..." Bitty clung tightly to his shirt and began trailing kisses down Jack's neck. 

"Eric..."

"Ah! Wait, wait, wait!" Bitty came to his senses reluctantly when Jack said his first name. "We can't do this right now. Not here, and not when I have so much work to do," he pulled back. "After dinner. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"Oh?"

"You," Bitty patted his chest. "You need to go watch the parade with everyone in the other room, and I... I will catch my breath and then I will make a delicious meal that everyone will enjoy while I try not to think about touching you and fail miserably at it."

Jack closed in and kissed him one last time. "How are you going to make it up to me?"

"Anyway you want, Mr. Zimmermann..."

"You guys know we can hear _literally everything_  you're saying, right?" Lardo called from the living room.

"Dudes, the door isn't even closed and we're like, 10 feet away!" Ransom laughed. "Get it, Bits!" He cheered.

"Oh lord not again..." Bitty sighed and slid down from the counter. He gave Jack a small push. "You! Go. Now. This turkey ain't gonna baste itself. Get your big butt outta here!" He gave him a spank as an excuse to touch Jack's butt anyway. "It's distracting me!"

Jack laughed and ruffled Bitty's hair. "What are you thinking that's got you so distracted, Bittle?"

"Go! Shoo! Everyone can hear us!" Bitty pushed him towards the doorway and turned back towards the stove. "Ugh! What am I even going to do with you?"  
   
"Anything I want, I think was your promise..." Jack laughed and ducked out of the way of a wadded up dish towel aimed at his head. "Okay! I'm going, I'm going!"

He darted into the living room, still laughing, and was met with three curious stares and their accompanying amused grins. "Bro..."

"What?"

"You've got it _so_ bad, it's embarrassing..." Holster, who was sitting in the middle of the couch shook his head and picked up the remote, pushing play on the parade recording. "Hurry up and sit down. There's only, like, 45 minutes left."

They squeezed over on the couch and Jack took a seat next to Lardo. Holster hooked one leg onto Ransom's lap to help make room.

"What was with Dex just now? He came in, said hi, and then left like, 15 seconds later. Did he forget something? Do you know?" Ransom asked once they were all settled in comfortably.

"He, uh... He saw us kissing," Jack admitted sheepishly. "He told Bittle he wouldn't say anything, but he seemed pretty bothered by it."

"Should I go talk to him?" Ransom offered.

"I was thinking of doing that myself, but Bittle wants to wait until he comes for dinner tonight."

"Shit, well, we're here for you guys if there's any problems. I don't think Dex will have much trouble once he gets used to it though. I mean, he handles the whole _Nursey thing_ like nothing," Holster shrugged his shoulders.

Jack was going to ask what he meant by 'the Nursey thing' but they were all distracted by a wayward parade balloon impaling itself on a lamppost. The conversation would have to wait for later.

******  
   
Bitty worked away in the kitchen, comforted by the relative quiet in the other room aside from the occasional outburst of laughter. He hoped Dex would be understanding when he came for dinner. Bitty's phone buzzed with an incoming text and he grabbed it eagerly. Was it Dex?

Chowder: Hi Bitty!!!! My flight just landed in California!!!!!!  
Chowder: Happy thanksgiving!!!!!!  
Chowder: you were still sleeping when I left, so I couldn't tell you. I gave Dex my key so h  
Chowder: oops!!! So he can feed my fish. I thought you'd be too busy today with Jack and dinner!!!  
Bitty: Okay. Thanks for letting me know, Chowder :)  
Chowder: Sorry I'm missing Hausgiving!!! D: D: D: Have lots of fun!!!!!!!!  
Bitty: I'll save you a piece of pumpkin pie :)  
Chowder: BITTY!!!!!!!! :D :D :D

Bitty put his phone back down on the table and set back to work, listening to the faint sounds of the parade televised in the other room, until-

"JACK LAURENT ZIMMERMANN YOU BEAUTIFUL FUCKING ADONIS! WHERE IS MY FUCKING HUG?!" Shitty wasted no time upon entering the Haus.

There was the sound of a few running footsteps, followed by a groan from everyone on the couch, followed by a crashing sound and more groans mixed with laughter.

Bitty ran into the room to find his friends in a dog pile on top of the now-broken green couch. Apparently nearly a thousand pounds of hockey players (and Lardo) was too much for the old couch to handle. Bitty was thrilled at the prospect of buying a new couch, but concerned about how he would break the news to his sweet baby Chowder. "Oh dear. Are y'all okay?"

"Dammit, Shits!" Holster groaned as Shitty kneed him in the chest while climbing off of them.

"You owe Chowder a new napping couch, bro. This was all your fault," Ransom rolled to the side and got to his feet.

"No way! It's Jack's fault for that beautiful fucking speech last night!" Shitty clung to Jack's back, dragging him back down to the ground. "Where do you get off saying shit like that when I'm not around to hear it? Thank god Lardo took a video!"

"Got your back bro," she fist-bumped him before Holster hooked his hands under her armpits and dragged her out from the bro-pile that now consisted of Shitty wrestling with Jack.

"I missed you too, Shits," Jack laughed before twisting to pin his best friend down. "I win. Again."

"For about the 500th time in a row," Shitty laughed. "I give in. Have your way with me. I'm into it."

Jack let go and sat back on his haunches, laughing too hard to speak. Lardo spoke instead. "Bro. You missed your shot. That's Bitty-only territory now, remember?"

"Where is Bits, anyway?" Shitty scanned the room and saw Bitty leaning against the kitchen doorway. He hopped to his feet and rushed the small blond, gripping him in a bear hug. "BITS!"

"Hey Shitty," he managed to croak out with what little air was available in his lungs. "Can't... Breath!"

"To think you two gorgeous bastards were hooked up all this time and you weren't even gonna tell _me!_ You can't hide anything from me!" He released his hold on Bitty, but kept one arm around his shoulders.

"They can't hide anything from _anybody_ , apparently. These two have been all over each other since Jack got here," Holster chuckled.

"They were banging in the shower while Holtzy was taking a piss!" Ransom laughed. 

"And getting all cozy in the kitchen today too," Lardo added. "Dex caught them making out."

" _Dex_ did? What'd that little butt-nugget do when he saw that?"

"Ran out the door so fast he almost forgot his shoes," Ransom answered.

Bitty sighed. "Please nobody say anything to him when he comes back. Let me have a chance to talk to him first before y'all get on his case, okay?"

"Sure, Bitty. Whatever you say," Holster said and the others nodded in agreement. "He should be back soon, right? It's already 4:30, when's dinner?"

"I'm aiming for 6:00, but _someone_  kept distracting me today, so we'll see..." Bitty shot his boyfriend a sideways glance. 

"I'll help make it up to you," Jack raised his hands in surrender. " _Real_  help this time. I swear."

"Fine. Come with me, Mr. Zimmermann."

"You guys can't bail five minutes after I get here! This party is moving to the kitchen, someone get this guest a beer!" Shitty sat down at the kitchen table and held out his hand until Holster grabbed him a beer from the fridge. 

"You didn't have to have thanksgiving with your family, bro?" Ransom asked him as he also took a seat.

"To hell with that. I'm already at Harvard, what else do they want from me?" Shitty took a gulp of his beer. "Much rather spend it with my chosen family," Lardo sat down in the seat beside him and he wrapped one arm around her, ruffling her hair. 

The gang chattered happily and a few tadpoles filtered in for the upcoming meal. They joined into some discussions, but mostly stared in awe at the sight of the NHL's rising star, Jack Zimmermann, standing in the Haus kitchen wearing one of Bitty's novelty aprons that read 'I could be watching the game.'

Dex arrived as Lardo was taking a picture of the secret couple with Jack's DSLR camera. Jack was holding the cooked turkey while Bitty was holding the uncooked pie that was about to replace it in the oven. His apron read 'I only have a house because it came with the kitchen.'

"What kind of pie is that, Bitty?" One of the tadpoles asked.

"It's a secret," Bitty replied as he put it in the oven and adjusted the temperature. When he turned around, he noticed Dex for the first time. "Hi Dex! Glad you could make it," he smiled.

"Yeah, well, Chowder and Farmer are in Cali for combination thanksgiving with both of their families, and I can't afford to go home now if I want to make it for Christmas. I'm not like _certain_ people who can fly home to their brownstone in New York whenever they want..." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Anyway, uh, Bitty? Can I talk to you for a minute? We can wait til later if you're too busy."

"Not at all, perfect timing!" Bitty said as he untied his apron. "The turkey has to cool before carving and the pie needs at least a half hour. Um, you need to feed Chowder's fish, right? I'll come with you."

"Okay," Dex replied and headed upstairs.

"Y'all better behave while I'm gone," Bitty grabbed his phone, making sure to set a timer for 30 minutes so he could check on the pie. It was important to him that it turned out perfectly. He exchanged a quick hopeful glance with Jack and went upstairs. He found Dex waiting in Chowder's bedroom with the shaker of fish food in his hand. 

The lid was sealed, and Dex shifted it from one hand to the other repeatedly. "Hey," Dex greeted him without making eye contact.

"You don't have to be nervous. You know, about earlier..."

"It's not- it's not what you think," Dex let out a shaky sigh. "I'm not going to tell anyone, I promise. I wouldn't do that to someone, especially Jack."

"Well, okay. That's a relief to know," Bitty smiled. 

"I think I'm mostly just _confused_..."

"Well you must've known about _me_. I mean, you saw my date for Winter Screw last year. I know Jack's date was a girl, but that didn't necessarily mean that he _only_  liked women..."

"So you knew?"

"Well, not exactly. I had an inkling a little while after that he _maybe_ wasn't straight, but not like, any proof or anything."

"And with you?" Dex stood over the fish tank and tapped the container until little flakes of food fell onto the water.

"With _me?_  Well, I had no idea until he kissed me after his graduation," Bitty admitted with a quiet laugh. This was going much easier than he had anticipated. Rather than being disgusted, Dex seemed curious to understand the situation. Bitty could work with curious. "I thought he'd never consider me anything more than a friend."

"No, I meant like- like, when did you know about _yourself?_ Did you just wake up one day and realize you were gay? Or was it like a gradual thing? Did you have a crush on a _friend_ or someone maybe?"

The sudden barrage of questions caught Bitty by surprise. "I um, well, I guess I started figuring it out when I was in middle school. Then I got a crush on a boy when I was 16, but he wasn't really a friend or anything... just a boy on my dad's football team," he said with a small sigh. Dex was staring at the tank as Chowder's goldfish eagerly ate all the food. "Can I ask why you're so interested?"

"I don't understand how people figure it out for themselves. Like, what if you _think_ you like someone, but then you make a move and you were wrong and it ruins everything."

Bitty chuckled, and Dex turned around with a frown. "Ah, no! I'm not laughing at you, it's a very valid question," he stumbled over his explanation. "I was in almost that exact situation. I hid my feelings and almost missed my chance. In fact, I _did_  miss my chance, but Jack..." An excited chill ran down his spine when he realized he was currently in the room where it all happened. It felt like ages ago, but yesterday all at the same time. He smiled. "Sometimes you have to be brave and take that shot. You might miss, but boy oh boy, if you _don't_..."

"I don't think I could do that," Dex sighed and sat down next to Bitty on Chowder's bed, still refusing to make eye contact. "Too many risks."

"I know. Secretly dating a professional athlete isn't _ideal_ but it's only temporary," Bitty smiled, remembering Jack's words from earlier. "And if you love each other, you make it work no matter what," he watched the red-haired man closely and let out a soft sigh. He recognized that pained look on Dex's face. "But we're not really talking about me, or Jack, are we?"

Bitty placed a gentle and on Dex's shoulder and the young defenseman looked him in the eye for the first time that day, if only for a moment. He looked back down. "I've never told..." He took a shaky breath. "I don't think I'm ready to..."

"You don't have to rush anything; take as much time as you need. I was really afraid at first but in my experience, there's no better place to be yourself than Samwell. And the hockey team? They'll have your back no matter what, I promise."

"Tha-" Dex was interrupted by the timer on Bitty's phone. "Your pie is ready, I think."

Bitty turned off the alarm and hopped to his feet anxiously, but he stopped and turned back to Dex. "But..."

"I'm okay. Just give me a minute and I'll come back down. Thanks for the talk, and um," Dex paused. "I promise I won't say anything about you and Jack, so, don't worry about that."

"Please let me give you a hug right now," Bitty moved in close as Dex stood and wrapped his arms around the taller man.

"Okay," Dex let out surprised chuckle followed by a deep, relieved sigh. He had not really said anything, but somehow it felt like a weight had already been lifted. "Thanks, Bitty."

"You can talk to me anytime, okay? Promise me. I owe you at least that much for all your help with ol' Betsy."

That caused Dex to finally laugh. "I promise."

Bitty broke away from the hug and hurried downstairs with a broad grin on his face. He gave his friends a double thumbs-up gesture before checking on the pie and adding final touches to the rest of his dishes. "Y'all go wash up. Dinner is five minutes away."

"You heard the man, tadpoles. Let's go," Holster corralled the youngest teammates up to the bathroom that he, Ransom, and Bitty shared. 

The others made their way to Lardo's bathroom, but Ransom held back in the kitchen for a moment. "So, things are good?" 

"They're great," Bitty smiled. Ransom went upstairs as well, leaving Bitty and Jack alone in the kitchen for a minute. He tugged on the apron around Jack's chest. "I think Lardo bought me this as a joke, but it really suits you." At that moment, Bitty wanted to touch him any way he could.

Jack smiled as he ran his hand through Bitty's soft blond hair and gave him a quick kiss while nobody could see. "Good work today, Bittle. Everything smells great."

"Well, I have one more surprise in store for you, Mr. Zimmermann..." Bitty grinned and turned back to the stove as they heard footsteps come back down the stairs. 

"I made all the tadpoles sign non-disclosure agreements for tonight. Just in case," Shitty announced as he re-entered the kitchen. "They probably wouldn't hold up in court, but I think it was enough to put a scare into those kids. Still, try not to make them _necessary_ , okay fuckers?"

"Of course not!" Bitty objected to the implication. "We're careful."

"Tell that to Jack's hand on your ass," Shitty laughed and smacked his best friend in the shoulder. "You can't go two minutes in the same room without fucking touching him, can you? Get it together, brah."

Everyone returned and Jack quickly washed his hands in the kitchen sink, drying them on his apron as he removed it. Dex came down as well with a relaxed smile that Bitty was not sure he had ever seen on his face before.

"Your eyes look kinda red," one of the tadpoles pointed out to Dex as everyone took their seats. 

Bitty quickly stepped in. "I hope that allergy medication helps, Dex. Be careful not to rub them too much, it will only make your eyes more itchy."

"Right," the redhead nodded gratefully. "Thanks, Bitty."

"Shitty, will you do the honours?" Bitty handed him the carving knife for the turkey. 

"Of course!" 

Bitty removed the mystery pie from the oven and replaced it with a large pumpkin pie for dessert. He placed the final dish in front of where Jack was seated and grabbed something from the fridge before taking his seat next to his boyfriend. "Surprise," he smiled and put a bottle of ketchup down between them on the table while the others were distracted by Shitty's questionable carving skills.

"Bittle, is this...?" Jack turned to him in utter shock.

"I got the recipe from your dad. I'm not sure it will taste as good as your _grandmother's_ , but..." Bitty bit his lip to hide how big he wanted to smile at the sight of Jack's surprised face.

"I haven't had _tourtière_ since last Christmas for _réveillon_..."

"What is that, Bits?" Holster noticed the dish that their former captain could not stop staring at.

"Meat pie. From Quebec," Bitty let out a small laugh when Jack squeezed his hand tightly under the table.

"Leave it to Bits to find a way to combine protein and pie," Ransom laughed. "Can't chirp him now, eh Jack?"

"No..." Jack let go of Bitty's hand in order to serve himself a slice and squirt some ketchup onto his plate. He eagerly took a bite before bothering to take any other food. "It's perfect Bittle," he turned to Bitty with a smile.

"Glad you like it," Bitty smiled back.

Shitty cleared his throat loudly to break up their moment. "And what is that called again?"

" _Tourtière_. Or _tortière_  works too.

"Torture?"

" _ **Tourtière**_. It's made with ground pork and it's my favourite dish. My _grand-maman_  used to make it for every holiday growing up. My aunt made it last year but she put her own twist on the recipe and it wasn't quite the same. Bittle, you have _no idea..._ " He trailed off and took another bite.

"Lady and gentlemen, let the record show that Jack Zimmermann has been rendered speechless by a meat pie," Shitty announced and the table laughed.

******

The tadpoles left the Haus that night with three things on their mind:

1\. The image of NHL star Jack Zimmermann in an apron helping to make their thanksgiving dinner,  
2\. The way NHL star Jack Zimmermann completely lost his cool composure over a pie made of pork and,   
3\. The possibility that Bitty and Dex were secretly dating.

***The End***

(Epilogue to Follow)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick translation notes:  
> Grand-maman = grandma/grandmother  
> Réveillon = a late meal held on Christmas Eve before/after midnight mass. Usually just a family event, but I guess some close friends might be invited too. It's celebrated in lots of French-speaking countries, but the tradition differs somewhat according to region.  
> Tourtière/Tortière = a meat pie made of ground pork. Some versions include ground beef or potatoes as well. Commonly eaten with ketchup (like Jack does here) but that can be debated lol. (My family tends to pronounce it as "tortière" which when super anglicized sounds like "torture". They also call it that sometimes for fun, even though they all love it.)
> 
> I feel like the French meat pie connection should be made canon, tbh. It is basically the perfect solution for Bitty's pie obsession and Jack's protein chirps lol
> 
> Stay tuned for the epilogue (much shorter this time than the epilogue for "Mon Petit Chou" haha)


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after...

Jack woke up early the following morning and snuck downstairs for breakfast without waking Bitty. He was happy to find an unopened box of raisin bran in the cupboard and poured himself a bowl. He was joined by a shirtless Shitty five minutes later. "Hey, man. Wait, _Shitty?_ "

"Mornin' brah. Please tell me you made coffee. I'm so hungover."

"It's brewing now. Should be ready in another five minutes or so," Jack took another bite of his cereal.

"Fuck that cereal. Can't you crunch any quieter?" Shitty put his head down on the table and covered his ears. "Why am I so hungover???"

"Because everyone decided to get wasted after the tadpoles left. You better not have thrown up in Chowder's room. And you better have worn pants to bed," Jack warned.

"Dex crashed in Chowder's room."

"Where did you sleep, then?" Jack grinned and purposely tried to chew his noisy cereal as loudly as possible. "Too bad that hotel room you paid for went to waste. Which one were you booked at, again?"

"The same one as _you_ ," Shitty replied and Jack let out a loud laugh. "Aghhh! Fuck you, Jack Zimmermann!"

Jack chuckled and stood from his seat. He took pity on his severely hung over best friend and poured him a cup of coffee. "Feels like the good ol' days, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Shitty chuckled and slowly sat up to drink his coffee. "But a little better, somehow."

Lardo shuffled into the room and went straight for the coffeemaker. "So... Hungover..."

"Want some raisin bran?" Jack offered.

"Gross, dude."

"Anyone know if Rans and Holtzy are alive?" Shitty asked.

"They went Black Friday shopping. Left hours ago," Lardo said and took a gulp of her coffee.

"So, then are they _still_ alive?"

"Time will tell," she shrugged. "Dex looks like hell, but was still breathing when I checked in on him. And Bits," Lardo took another sip of her coffee. "I wasn't sure what kind of scene I might be walking into so I didn't check on him."

"Hah!" Shitty laughed but the loud noise aggravated both his and Lardo's headaches. " _Fuck_..." he added with a whisper.

Lardo looked over at Jack casually eating his bowl of cereal. "Jack, please take that godforsaken cereal with you when you go. I can't even stand the smell of it."

"What smell? It's basically sawdust with raisins," Shitty groaned.

"Sawdust smell."

"If it's so bad, why was there a whole box of it in your cupboard?" Jack asked her.

"Please, as if you don't know. Bitty _obviously_ bought it for your visit. Come on," she scoffed. "And why aren't you hung over?"

"Because I only had a few drinks," Jack laughed. "I'm surprised Ransom and Holster woke up in time to go shopping."

"I'm not entirely convinced they went to sleep in the first place."

"Aw, shit! Do you think furniture stores have Black Friday deals? I should get that new couch today..." Shitty propped himself up on his elbows.

"Relax, Shits. I've got you covered for it. I was planning to buy a new one for the Haus anyway."

"You mean a new one for _Bitty_ , since he hated that fucking thing."

"You can think what you want..." Jack grinned and took the final bite of his cereal. "Besides, there's no way Bittle will let that couch get replaced without Chowder's approval."

The others laughed. "That's true."

Jack's phone buzzed and he grabbed it especially quickly, suddenly remembering their photo session from the previous night. His friends stared at him with curious grins.

Bitty: Where did you go?  
Jack: Breakfast downstairs. I didn't want to wake you yet.  
Jack: Thanks for the cereal.

He took a picture of the cereal box and his empty bowl and sent it to Bitty. The picture he received in response made Jack jump to his feet so quickly that he knocked his chair over. Bitty had taken a selfie lying stomach-down in bed with his face only partially in frame, his naked body visible over his shoulder.

"What the hell?" Lardo laughed as Jack scrambled to pick up his chair. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I uh- I have- I'm going to- upstairs," Jack cleared his throat and shoved his phone deep into his pocket so that his friends could not catch a glimpse of the screen. "I'm going upstairs."

"Have fun..."

Jack left the room trying to appear as normal he could, but took the stairs two at a time in his rush to Bitty's room. He locked the door behind him and pounced on the bed, earning a shriek from Bitty. Jack pinned him down, kissing him while his hands roamed all over Bitty's naked body.

"Well you certainly don't need any convincing..." Bitty laughed into their kiss.

"Why would I ever need convincing when it comes to you, _mon petit chou,_ " Jack slipped his tongue past his parted lips and deepened their kiss. In response, Bitty reached down and squeezed his ass, causing Jack to let out a moan and buck their hips together.  "Eric..."

The phone in Jack's pocket began to vibrate against his boyfriend's thigh, as did Bitty's phone on the nightstand. "Oh no. Oh lord not again!" Bitty snatched up his phone and gaped at the incoming texts in horror.

Lardo: GROUP TEXT!!!  
Shitty: Nice ass, Bits!  
Lardo: lol!  
Ransom: Squats are working, bro!  
Chowder: What happened???  
Holster: Group sext achieved!  
Ransom: I can't believe it was Bits who messed up!!!

"No, no. I was so careful!" Bitty scrolled up through the group text, but could not find his messages in the history. "What on earth?"

Jack showed him his phone. "You definitely sent that only to me. Look," Their text exchange from the kitchen was between the couple only. Bitty confirmed it by checking his own phone. He had indeed sent the flirty message to Jack and only Jack.

Bitty: What's going on here???  
Ransom: Sorry Bits! Couldn't resist!  
Holster: It's Shitty's fault, bro!  
Holster: He texted us to play along.

They heard Shitty and Lardo cackling with laughter from downstairs, quickly interrupted by hungover groans, then followed by quieter giggling.

Bitty: I KNEW I didn't send that to the wrong chat!  
Ransom: So you DID send Jack a naughty picture?  
Jack: It wasn't that naughty.

"Jack! Not helping!" Bitty snatched his phone away and tossed it in the drawer of his nightstand.

"Sorry!"

Lardo: Knew it.  
Shitty: it was so obvious!  
Shitty: you guys should've seen how fucking fast Jack bolted upstairs!!  
Holster: lol!  
Lardo: He knocked over a chair!!!  
Hoslter: Like fuckin' rabbits, huh?  
Ransom: Right?  
Ransom: Like we didn't hear everything last night lol  
Bitty: You didn't!  
Holster: Why do you think we were awake all night, Bits?  
Ransom: Heard. Everything.  
Lardo: Both nights.  
Bitty: Y'all are a bunch of liars!!  
Holster: Haus has got thin walls, ERIC.

Bitty's jaw dropped and he heard more of Shitty and Lardo's laughter echo up from the kitchen. "Oh my god..." He purposely whispered.

"What is it?" Jack smiled and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's small waist.

Bitty covered his bright red face with both hands. "You're not allowed to visit here anymore!!!"

***End of Epilogue***

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Really, how could they resist messing with Zimbits after Jack's obvious reaction to Bitty's text? Especially after their previous group text mishaps? I would do the same, to be honest.  
> \- Poor Dex is just lying there in Chowder's bed wondering how that sweet goalie puts up with all the laughing and sex noises all night. He was only pretending to sleep when Lardo checked on him. He wasn't sure he could look anyone in the eye that morning.  
> \- So where did Shitty sleep? I feel like we all know the answer to this.

**Author's Note:**

> Stay tuned for final instalment of the trilogy:  
> The Falconers play against the Aces in Vegas! What is Jack going to do about seeing Parse?


End file.
